Wisconsin Basketball: Badgers defeat Nebraska in Lincoln

It wasn’t pretty, but the Wisconsin basketball team went into Lincoln and left with a win, pushing their Big Ten record to 9-5 and 15-6 overall.

It was another cold offensive night, but luckily, Nebraska wasn’t shooting it well either. The Badgers shot just 32.3% from the floor, including a dreadful 9-32 from three. The Badgers actually shot 32 three-pointers. Granted, Nebraska was running a loose zone and they packed the middle of the floor hard, forcing Wisconsin to take long shots. As poorly as the Badgers have been shooting from three lately, I’d say that was a good strategy.

Fortunately for Wisconsin, Nebraska’s offense was just as bad. They started out hot, hitting their first four threes, and went on a 10-0 run early in the first half to lead the Badgers, 22-14. After that, it was all downhill for the Huskers. The Badgers climbed back and took a 27-25 lead with 2:22 to play in the first half.

With just seconds left in the first half, the game was tied at 27. Tyler Wahl forced a turnover and Aleem Ford drained a three at the buzzer to give the Badgers a 30-27 lead at the half.

The first few minutes of the second half was more of the same for both teams. Both were missing a lot of shots, including some bunnies that should be automatic at the D1 level. Finally, Freshman Jonathan Davis got the offense going, scoring the first six points in the second half for the Badgers.

The Wisconsin basketball team built their lead up to 10 when D’Mitrik Trice his a three with 12:22 left in the second half. From that point on, the Huskers never got back to within six points of the Badgers’ lead.

Trevor Anderson and Jonathan Davis should be considered the Badgers’ ‘players of the game.’ Both came off of the bench and provided much-needed sparks in their limited time. Davis led the Badgers in scoring with 10 points in just 18 minutes. He was the only Wisconsin basketball player that scored in double-digits.

Anderson also played 18 minutes and he had eight points. Anderson made some key plays for the Badgers, like hitting a three to tie the game at 25 with just under four minutes left in the first half. After that, the Huskers never led again for the rest of the game.

With the win, the Badgers stay within striking distance of the top seed in the conference. As of Thursday morning, the Badgers are just 1.5 games back from Michigan, who they will play on Sunday afternoon when the Wolverines come to the Kohl Center.